


he's drinking again.

by vulcanalistair



Category: The Storm Play
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:21:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27855030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanalistair/pseuds/vulcanalistair
Summary: Ashley can't help but pick up the bottle.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	he's drinking again.

It only took a few days for him to pick up the bottle again.

Ashley Greyson was never a binge drinker, but he never had a good relationship with alcohol. It was a crutch used to power through stressful nights of work. The start-up he was employed at was understaffed, but Ash believed in it— even if the pay was just enough to support a two-bedroom apartment.

Not that he'll be living there anymore.

Too many things were a painful reminder. The furniture that was picked out, the bookshelf filled with stories he never touched, the empty space beside him when he slept.

His daughter.

Her face was almost recognizable to him. Almost. There is enough of a similarity that he can't look too long at her. But there is enough of a difference that he won't give up on her.

The six-year-old wasn't entirely sure yet what was going on. All she knew was that Mommy was going to be gone. "Gone for a  _ long _ time," Daddy said. But it didn't explain to her why they had to move in with Auntie Henrietta. It didn't explain why Daddy kept drinking the juice that made him different.

Maya didn't like it when Daddy was different. He said things that didn't make sense to her, and it made him cry. Mommy always said it was okay to cry, that she would feel better after. Daddy never felt better after. 

He still tucked her into bed each night. Mommy used to read her stories every night, but since she went to the hospital, Daddy took over. When Mommy went away, he tried his best to continue.

He wasn't as good as Mommy. Sometimes he would stop in the middle of the story and look... somewhere. Maya could never tell where he was looking. One time he started crying, and Maya would hug him just like Mommy did when she was crying. They hugged for a long time. So long that Maya fell asleep.

That was Ash's cue to go back to the kitchen.

A crutch-turned-coping mechanism started to claw into Ash's psyche.

He was almost finished with the bottle of wine. There were only a few alcoholic beverages left in the kitchen. One of which was an aged wine that his parents gifted for the wedding. It's been sitting in the cabinet for years now, meant for a notable occasion. Obviously this wasn’t what they meant, but it  _ was _ a notable occasion.

He opened the cabinet and found a dusty, glass bottle. He grabbed it and placed it on the counter. He grabbed the corkscrew and was about to insert when he noticed a note tied to the bottle.

It was notably not as dusty as the bottle.

He almost dropped the note the second he saw the writing.

My writing.

_ Don’t do it Ash. _

He started crying immediately, forcing himself to quiet sobs to make sure he wouldn’t wake up Maya.

“I miss you so much Cleo.”

...I miss you too.

**Author's Note:**

> woof, this is rough. i might go back to clean it up idk.  
> if you have no idea what this is fanfic of, go watch this: https://youtu.be/4glZ-hxMRho


End file.
